You're My Friend
by Nova Rhea9d3
Summary: After Kai comes back and destroys Jo and Alaric's wedding, Damon and Royale have a falling out due to how differently they both handled the event.
1. Grave Marker

Disclaimer: I only own the OC, Royale.

* * *

Royale had been one of the only people to give Kai a chance to redeem himself. When she found out what Kai had done to Bonnie and Damon while they were in purgatory she had her hesitations about trusting him, but she wanted to be fair to him all the same. She genuinely enjoyed hanging out with him when he wasn't being horrible. They had played video games together, he would visit her while she was on break at the garden supply store she worked at, and they'd eat lunch together, she took him shopping with her sometimes, just because, she even invited him to stay for dinner once to meet her parents; he was nervous about it at first, not sure how her parents would have received him, but she was able to talk him into staying, and he admitted that he was glad she did.

The day of the wedding Kai had intercepted Royale before she could make it to the ceremony. She had been stunned to see him, but she'd also been happy to see that he was back. Before she could ask him everything that happened he started talking about how he was about to do something irredeemable, even in her eyes, and then he made her sleep. She had thought it was a dream and that she'd missed the wedding, but later Damon found her and told her everything that happened. She had been devastated.

After Kai had caused all of his destruction at Jo and Alaric's wedding, and died, there was nothing left to do except get a grave marker and flowers for him. Royale had bought it herself, and had brought yellow roses to lay in front of it.

"Hey, I brought you some flowers and stuff. I don't know why you felt the need to come back and destroy everything… but you really broke my heart." Royale said, her voice cracking at the thought of the devastation Kai left in his wake. "I really thought you could've turned everything around for yourself, but instead you self-destructed! YOU THREW EVERYTHING AWAY!" She was on her knees, yelling at the grave marker. Her tears blurred her vision behind her glasses. She removed them in order to wipe her eyes, but she just ended up holding her face in her hands, doubled over, crushed by the person she had started to feel a great deal of love for.

"Holy hell!" Royale was startled by a familiar voice. It had been Damon. "You're a crazy person. You know that?" He said. He had walked up behind her to see what she was doing. "Malachai Parker. Misfortune was his undoing." He read off the grave marker. "ARE YOU SERIOUS RIGHT NOW?! YOU GOT A GRAVE MARKER FOR THAT PSYCHOPATH?! WHY WOULD YOU DO SOMETHING LIKE THAT?!"

"YES, I DID GET A GRAVE MARKER FOR THAT "PSYCHOPATH", BECAUSE THAT "PSYCHOPATH" WAS BEGINNING TO BECOME A POTENTIAL FRIEND TO ME!" Royale yelled.

Damon walked past her to get to the grave marker. He looked at it for a moment before he began to stomp it into the ground.

"STOP IT, DAMON! STOP IT!" She yelled, trying to push him away from the grave marker. He had stomped it into the ground a few good inches before she intervened. The plate was smashed and it was covered in dirt. "HOW DARE YOU DO THIS! YOU HAVE NO RESPECT FOR THE DEAD!" She yelled.

"YOU'RE DAMN RIGHT I HAVE NO RESPECT FOR THAT PSYCHO MURDERER! HOW COULD YOU SHOW THIS TYPE OF COMPASSION TO SOMEONE WHO TORTURED AND TRIED TO MURDER YOUR FRIENDS, AND WAS EVEN SUCCESSFUL IN MURDERING A FEW OF THEM?!" He yelled.

"BECAUSE I SHOWED YOU THE SAME COMPASSION, ONCE UPON A TIME!" She yelled back.


	2. Fallout

The silence between them was instant. The crickets could be heard chirping in the night. The moonlight was being blocked out by clouds every so often, causing shadows to dance along the face and shoulders of Damon and Royale.

"I-I am… I'm not… Don't compare us like that." Damon mumbled.

"I showed him the same compassion I showed to, Niklaus, and to, Lorenzo, and to, Stefan, even after his Ripper escapades, which believe me, was not easy in the slightest. Believe me when I say the list of people I've showed compassion to, who others didn't believe deserved it, is a long-ass list!" She exclaimed. "Kai was messed up from the start, he was acting the only way he knew how! Most of the people on my list chose to act like monsters. Kai tried to redeem himself once he was able to feel and gained empathy!" She looked at the smashed gravestone and gnarled flowers. "I had so much love for him, because he had so much pain inside him." She looked at Damon. "I may have even had more love for him than I have for you."

Damon's face contorted into one of surprise and then fury, and then he shoved Royale to the ground with great force.

"What the hell, Damon!" She yelled, getting up and shoving him back. "If that's the way you're going to be, then leave! Get the hell out of here!" Damon stormed off, leaving Royale to try and fix what he'd done.

* * *

Royale had been avoiding Damon like the plague. She refused to take any of his calls; when he walked into her place of work she either treated him like he didn't exist, or she treated him like he was just another customer when her manager was around; she refused to go to his house anymore; he would show up at her house unannounced sometimes, and she'd just leave him standing outside for as long as it would take for him to leave; there were times he would even try to get to her through Bonnie, but she'd completely blow it off. It had been a little over a month that she had gone without trying to reach out to him, things were a mess and everyone was still trying to recover. The devastation was long lasting in the aftermath. Why wouldn't it be?

* * *

Royale had just finished getting ready for bed and started heading to her room. When she turned on her light she was surprised to see someone in her bed, she nearly screamed; it had been Damon. He was lying in her bed, propped up on his elbow facing her, already under the covers. He put his finger to his lips to indicate for her to stay quiet. She stormed over to her bed and slammed her hands down on the covers.

"What the hell are you doing here?!" Royale loudly whispered.

"I came to sleep over, like old times." Damon said, watching her carefully to see how she'd react.

"No, get out! You have no right to be here! You can't just insert yourself into my life because you physically can!" She loudly whispered.

Damon threw the covers off of himself and pulled himself to the edge of the bed where she was standing; putting himself in a sitting position. He was wearing a black v-neck and black sweatpants; oddly appropriate for him. She realized he looked much different than she remembered. He didn't have the cocky smirk he usually wore, and his posture even seemed to be more humble.

"Look, I didn't come here to annoy you, or to pick a fight with you. I came here to explain why I acted the way I did towards you, and to… apologize to you." He said.

She stumbled back out of disbelief.

"WHO THE FUCK ARE YOU?!" She exclaimed.

Damon jumped up and slapped his hand over her mouth, and they waited to see if she had woken up her parents. When Damon was sure no one was coming he took his hand off her mouth, and turned her light off before leading her to the bed.

"Come on, let's talk." He said, waiting for her to climb in beside him.


	3. Strange Bedfellows

"No." She said.

Her dark brown eyes staring down into his iceberg blue eyes in a defiant manner. He sighed and grabbed her by her waist before gently, yet firmly, pulling her down beside him. She took in his scent, which was still just as pleasant as she remembered it to be. It had been a long while since Royale and Damon had slept in the same bed. It used to be somewhat of a regular thing until him and Elena became an item. Then they mostly only visited each other's houses during the day, and they never spent the night. Royale understood it was a respect thing, and made sure she never overstepped any boundaries.

Damon hugged her close and they stayed like that for a while, not saying much of anything. Just enjoying the space that the other filled after being empty for so long.

"You said that you came over to apologize." Royale said, breaking the silence.

"Yeah." Damon said, looking her in the eye. "I never should have come at you like that. I was in a bad place, and what you said kind of sent me over the edge." He said.

"That was very vague, Damon. I said a lot of things that night." She said.

Damon sighed before running his hand down his face.

"Okay. It was the part about you possibly loving, Kai, more than you love me. I'm going to be completely honest, I can't stand the thought of you loving another man more than you love me. And before you say anything, I know that it was stupid and selfish of me, but we both know that I am capable of being very stupid, and capable of being very selfish." He said.

She just looked at him, not sure how to feel in that moment.

"You do realize that my dad is still alive, and an active part of my life, right?" She said.

"I mean someone who isn't related to you. Like, Enzo. Enzo's my friend, but when you're around I hate, Enzo. Sometimes, I miss when the two of you first met and you hated each other. Now, when you laugh at the stuff he says it makes me want to karate chop him in the throat." He said.

She propped herself up on her side and stared at him dumbfounded.

"I am a messed up person. We both know I am, everyone else knows I am." He said.

Royale reached out and brushed her thumb over the apple of Damon's cheek. The contrast of her mocha brown skin against his pale skin was ethereal in the moonlight.

"… I don't think I've ever had a female friend like you before. You're different, but in a good way. You don't expect me to be something I'm not because it would make you happy, but you also don't attempt to swallow my bullshit just to stay on my good side, either. I can't say I've said this to a lot of people in my life, but I love you. I never thought that I'd ever try to hurt you… again, because now we're actually friends, but I did, and I'm truly sorry." He said.

"Thank you for apologizing. I'm not sure if I've ever witnessed you actually apologize to anyone before. It's a surreal feeling for me, you know?" She said.

They hugged each other close again for a while having reconciled with one another.

"I missed our sleepovers." She said.

"Yeah, they're pretty okay." He said, hands in her curly, dark brown hair.

She took his face in her hands and surprised him by giving him a kiss on the nose. He reacted by burying his face in her neck and attacking it with kisses. She had to put her hand over her mouth the muffle her screams and laughter.

"Okay, okay, okay! You're going to make me pee on myself!" She said, starting to tear up.

"Yikes, then the sleepover would be over for sure." Damon said jokingly.

She looked into his eyes one more time before speaking.

"I love you, too, Damon Salvatore." She said.

"Alright, enough of this mushy stuff. Time to sleep." He said, holding her in a close hug before they both drifted off to sleep.


End file.
